Hockey Nights in Galavir - 15/12/2022 - A Kavel Perspective

Ice Hockey Practice

The Annual Galavir Winter Classic is an Ice Hockey series of games in Galavir, which takes place on its frozen lake. I am mountain-born and I love sports - I’m surprised I never learned to play hockey until recently. I met the young tabaxi, wizard boy, Mittens that Archie told me about. I agree with Archie; Mittens is too young to be adventuring. But, he’s not too young to practise hockey with me. So, we went to the mini lake behind the western wall of Fort Ettin and practised hitting large stones with sticks on the ice. I smashed a few stones into the bank from one side of the lake to the other. Hockey seemed easy to me.

“Are you warm enough, Mr. Castiron?” Mittens asked. I was wearing my workout shorts, and nothing else.

“Yes I am.” Young Mittens looked very perplexed. I explained, “I am goliath, little comrade. I am mountain born. It is never too cold for me.”

Mittens then asked me about armour, if I would be wearing any, since he understood that ice hockey players wear armour to absorb any unintentional hits from the puck. I reassured my young comrade that I didn’t believe anyone could hit me hard enough with a puck to do anything more than tickle me. I’m not sure if Mittens found that answer satisfactory.

Egg joined us. Egg is an aarakocra with some fighting skills. Egg is tiny. Cross checking different races maturation rates, Egg, surprisingly, is actually a little older than Mittens. But, Egg is also only two and a half years old. I was once again glad that our adventure that day consisted of sport only.

We were joined by comrade Tayz, and Carnan as well. I didn’t think we’d need my aarakocra cleric’s healing talents that day, or Archie’s firbold nature cleric’s skill. But, they were both very resourceful with their magic in the hockey game. Carnan is eight feet tall and has a direwolf - he has my respect.


Galavir and Dave

Jenna teleported us to Galavir. The town seemed empty, until we got to the lake, where it was very busy and noisy. Everyone was here watching the games. There were many rinks on the lake, and other teams were already playing, when an elderly elf approached us. This was Dave McClane ( a very human name for an elf, I felt). Dave was the manager for the guest ice hockey team; so, our manager. Dave was very enthusiastic about ice hockey, very kind, supportive and helpful. But, also, he was really dejected. Dave said he’s always in charge of the guest team during the exhibition match each year, which is a big attraction for the Winter Classic, so that’s good. However, the guest team always loses because they are not as experienced at the game. So, he always feels like a loser manager. We did not build his hopes up with our questions about the rules of the game, like; how do you play the game…

Dave explained the rules and we had some clarifying questions for him. Strangely, Carnan was not disallowed to bring his direwolf, Ulfr onto the ice. Also, magic is and isn’t allowed to varying degrees. So, comrade Tayz was allowed to cast his usual, very appreciated Aid spell (I didn’t think it was necessary in this light-contact sport, but I also didn’t want my comrade to get out of the habit of casting it during adventures).

You can’t cast magic directly on the puck - but everything else is fine. You can fly too, but not if you have possession of the puck. This was good news for me, it meant I could forgo chasing people by skating and just jump around the rink. Dave had to clarify the rules on flight, because of our two aarakocra team members, but he also intuited from my thicc thighs that I could fly too. Dave knows flight-legs when he sees them.

Dave also said roughing up the opposing team is fine, as long as you buy them a drink afterwards. At least, this is how I interpreted what he said. Carnan asked if it was legal to break the ice and send opposing team members into the depths below.

We called ourselves The Daring Knights and chose pink as our colour. Dave, our manager, made it so our jersey’s had a knight’s helmet on top of a pink coloured jersey. We were given skates and a hockey stick too. Carnan’s direwolf was given two pairs of skates.


Exhibition Match - The Daring Knights vs. The New Hillborrow Blades!

The opposing team were a team of halflings from New Hillborrow. They all had player numbers on their jerseys from 1 to 5. (Mendal played against a New Hillborrow team of professional Snowball players. I didn’t realise the little village had so many professional sports teams).

Tayz casted his spiritual guardian spell by our goal, so we had it covered. Nice. Carnan casted something on him and his mount, Ulfr.

We had to start the match next to opposing players. I took the centre and smashed the puck over to Mittens before the halfling in front of me could reach the puck. Halfling 2 intercepted the pass, while halfling 5 skated to support his teammate, but Carnan and his direwolf tripped him up and then casted a spell on the edge of the rink which shot out a grasping vine at halfling 2, pulling him away from the puck. Carnan took possession of the puck, skated over to the centre line, took aim, and blasted the puck into the back of the opposing team’s goal!

Daring Knights 1 - 0 NHB Blades

The referee reset the puck in the northeastern circle. Halfling 1 moved to intercept the puck. Egg obstructed the halfling giving Mittens a free pass to skate up to the puck, line up a shot, and score!

Daring Knights 2 - 0 NHB Blades

The puck was reset in the southwestern circle, near our goal. Halfling 3 skated towards the puck and demonstrated that the NHB Blades were proficient in magic as well, casting a Wall of Water spell that froze a wall between most of us and the puck. This let halfling 4 on the other side of the ice to line up a shot with the puck at our goal. I heard stick hit puck from behind the wall, but no goal as Tayz’s Spiritual Guardian blocked it.

Egg flew over the wall and intercepted the puck from halfling 4 and passed it to comrade Tayz, who had to get past player 3 and 5 to make a clear shot at the opposing goal. Player 5 was nearest to the goal. So I bent down and put my hand on his shoulder and moved him to the centre of the rink, and then helped him lie on the ice, prone. “All clear at goal comrade!” I shouted toward comrade Tayz, who skated around player 3 and left his sentient, large adder staff by player 3 to discourage him from following. Tayz had a perfectly lined up shot. He took it. Goal!

Daring Knights 3 - 0 NHB Blades

The manager for the NHB Blades called a time-out.


Let’s Go Again!

Our manager Dave was allowing himself to feel proud. He also mentioned there might have to be a rule next year called the Ulfr rule. Carnan assumed this was a positive thing. I, too, guessed this meant mounted skating would become the norm.

This time, the puck was not reset randomly into one of the four circles near the goals. Instead, it was like the beginning of the match, and this time comrade Tayz took the centre opposite player 4, while I was in the northeastern circle with player 2.

Tayz won the contest for the puck, and passed it to Carnan. Player 2 went to intercept seeing Ulfr charge toward the goal. But, I placed my hand on his shoulder and held player 2 in place. Player 5 made the intercept though! Player 5 passed the puck to player 1 in the northwestern circle, but then Tayz’s adder intercepted the pass! Carnan was then able to take the puck from the adder, skate near to me and the goal (player 2 wasn’t going to be a problem) and score!

Daring Knights 4 - 0 NHB Blades

I checked in with player 2 if the score was four to zero at this point. “You know damn well it is! Let me go!” I had forgotten that I was holding him. I let him go.

The puck reappeared in the northwestern circle - very unlucky for the Blades that the puck kept resetting near their goal. But, player 1 was the nearest to the puck, skated to the centre and went for a shot. Tayz’ Spiritual Guardian managed to unbalance him at the goal line, but player 1 had some skills; he still managed to score.

Daring Knights 4 - 1 NHB Blades

The puck reset in the southeastern circle, near our goal. I think Mittens casted a spell. People were saying that it smelt like apple pie near our goal. Mittens has some skating legs on him - he managed to skate from our goal to the centre in no time. Cats are fast! Mittens passed the puck to Carnan as player 4 barged into Mittens. Player 3 jostled for position with Egg in the southwestern circle, and shoved Egg toward our goal. The Blades were getting pushy. Player 4 charged into Mittens and shoved him back ten feet, and then stole the puck from Carnan and passed it to player 5. Before player 5 could move out of his side and get to ours, Egg flew away from player 3, landed in front of player 5 and took possession of the puck. A mighty swing, and goal!

Daring Knights 5 - 1 NHB Blades


NHB Blades Need Sharpening

The puck reset in the southeastern corner. I made to jump toward the puck, as player 2 tickled me (I believe). The tickle did not stop me taking flight and grabbing possession of the puck and skating it all the way in front of the goal and smashing it through the net. Goal!

Daring Knights 6 - 1 NHB Blades

The puck reset in the southwestern circle. Tayz flew to get it and then passed the puck to Carnan, but player 3 intercepted it. Player 2 might have bounced off of me. I’m not sure what he was up to, but I told him the score in case it was score clarification he was after.

Player 5 put up a new Wall of Water to slow down some of my team. Carnan focused on player 3 who intercepted the puck from Tayz in the southwestern circle, and made the ice under player 3 melt. Player 3 fell into the depths below as my mind circled back to the rules question Carnan asked Dave before the match began. The referee had no problem with this.

Ulfr brought him and Carnan to the puck, skated to the centre and passed the puck to Mittens in the southeastern circle. Player 1 came charging towards Mittens. I turned around to face the Blades player next to me by the Blade’s goal. I gently held him at bay so he couldn’t interfere with my comrade’s shot. As I did this I felt something tickle my balls as the puck seemed to rebound off of something towards the southeastern circle. Mittens managed to regain possession of the puck and passed it to me.

Player 4 feinted well, and managed to steal the puck from me, but Mittens stole it back almost immediately, as Egg flew over us to hang right next to the goal. I thought I’d set Egg up, so I gently pushed player 2 five feet away from me, who was getting clingy, and passed the puck to Egg, while I stuck my arse in front of player 4 to make it harder for him to reach Egg. Egg unfortunately got a little too excited to make his second goal and missed.

Comrade Tayz made the ice wall disappear, and decided to stay near our goal to mark player 3. Tayz was not willing to let the Blades score again.

The puck was still near the Blade’s goal. Player 2 skated back towards me to try and get the puck. I placed my stick in his path and he tripped over it, annoyingly he fell prone right inside his goal blocking it.

Player 5 tried to get to the puck and got smooshed between Ulfr and Mittens and then knocked into the side of the rink. Carnan casted another grasping vine, this time to clear player 2 from the goal. Carnan then did some more water based magic and the puck slid towards me. Player 1, went to reach the puck, but I don’t know what he was trying to do, because he hurtled towards me and then bounced straight off. Mittens, with his cat-like agility skated in, grabbed the puck, swung his stick, and smashed - goal!

Daring Knights 7 - 1 NHB Blades

The puck reset in the southwestern circle near Tayz and player 3. Tayz had earlier helped player 3 out of the ice. Player 3 was a little too exhausted from his dip to take the puck though, so Tayz had control. Player 4 was near the Blade’s goalline, and Egg flew towards our goal to defend it.

“I’ll give you a nice line-up, comrade!” I yelled towards Tayz, as I gently placed a hand on player 4’s shoulder and skated him away from his goal and to the centre of the rink. Goal less obscured, comrade Tayz rushed past the centre line, lifted his stick up in the air, and brought it back down in a perfect swing, crashing into the puck and sending the puck into the net of the Blade’s goal. As the puck spun into the net, the friction caused the net to burn where the puck was and the puck burst through the net. Goal!

Daring Knights 8 - 1 NHB Blades

The whistle blew, the game was over. Everyone in the crowd cheered.


Post Game

We had just won the Annual Galavir Winter Classic. Manager Dave was very proud. I picked up all my teammates to celebrate, including Ulfr - he’s big, but not too big for me.

A nice silver trophy was presented to us, the Daring Knights and there was even a little silver band on it with ‘1499 Daring Heights Daring Knights’. We were given 50gp each, too.

We stayed to enjoy the festivities, and I paid for some drinks with the NHB Blades, because that’s what Dave said we should do if we tussle with the opposing team. Although, I never really felt like I was fighting them, I merely moved the players around a little when they were in the way.

At the end of the night, Dave presented us with some nice hockey sticks to remember the day.

The next morning, we walked back to Daring Heights, and Mittens and Egg took the trophy to be placed in the Fort Ettin trophy room.